In the environmental modeling space, the present art methodology is designed simply to monitor one aspect of the environmental medium. Typically, the related art incorporates a singular moisture data logger, which is designed to collect moisture data at regular intervals (generally every several hours). The measurements are converted into soil moisture readings and stored in memory. Data loggers with a graphical display usually show several days or weeks of readings in a line graph, allowing visibility relevant to recent soil moisture trends at a glance on the screen (see, e.g., FIG. 1). However, in this format, the data has limited value.
On average, related art technologies also use data loggers that store the daily soil moisture information for the season at all depths within the soil profile. The data from a soil moisture monitor can be summarized and downloaded throughout the season and is graphed to show the variation in moisture content for the whole soil profile (see, e.g., FIG. 2). The graph shows the summed readings from all sensors and provides an over simplified depiction of the soil moisture trends, which results in incomplete and misleading conclusions.
Related technologies use single data plotting versus cross referencing the collected data. As in this illustration (see FIG. 3), key decision makers underestimate the amount of water in their fields and over irrigate accordingly. In such a situation, the crop does not have time to use the water available and much of the water and nutrients applied soaks through the wet profile and is lost to deep percolation. The consequences can be characterized by a significant depletion of water resources and a considerable waste of natural resources (e.g., nutrients). Although the data in FIG. 1 and FIG. 2 applies the laws of physics, it does not apply the laws of statistics. Since the current art data interpretation and presentation is one-dimensional, the ability to precisely measure and or accurately execute actions related to reducing natural resource usage is insufficient as well.
Building precise action plans from principally wide-ranging information, especially if they impact the environment or the financial prosperity of the business, is unrealistic and impractical. Because much of today's media analysis receives data from one data source it is broad and un-defined. The consequence is that hard to define actions are taking place. This results in baseless decisions incapable of positively impacting the environment and using natural resources wisely. Examples of media include, but are not limited to, water, soil, and air.
For many market sectors, there exists a need in the art for a data-rich interpretive system and methodology that is capable of providing sophisticated and accurate analyses. For strategic decision makers, the need is to quickly and easily verify current environmental forces, which lead immediately to the assembly of well-defined procedures capable of reducing waste or providing sustainable actions.
The Plant Water Stress Index study, recently researched by USDA/ARS scientists (see, e.g., FIG. 3), illustrates a relationship with yield over various climatic conditions. Critical soil properties and characteristics that govern yields under a given climatic situation can be identified and used in a model as surrogate indicators of yield. From the USDA/ARS research (see. e.g., FIG. 3) it can be determined there is a direct correlation between yield and number of stress days. Stress is defined as the condition where the plant roots can not optimally take up water. Consequently, strategic producers are seeking out this type of information as well as other real-time analysis as a means to manage actions/inputs and the corresponding re-actions more precisely.
Moreover, in the fresh produce arena, there is increasing focus on issues, including traceability (the ability to describe the chain of custody of fresh product from field to a retail or food service establishment) and food safety (detection, or absence, of human pathogens in or on fresh produce). In each case, the aim of these efforts is to offer a degree of protection of these products to the consumer, but little information is shared with the public until some breach of the chain, or the safety of the products, is discovered.
There are other programs in place that highlight either the growers of fresh produce or the chefs involved in its preparation and presentation, the so-called ‘celebrity growers’ or ‘celebrity chefs’, including websites and/or articles in magazines or newspapers. However, the focus of these types of articles is on the motivations and histories of the celebrities, rather than on the produce itself: no clear indications of the nutritional value of the fresh foods or the measureable environmental impacts under which these foods were produced are presented.
Consequently, what is needed is a direct and transparent view of the production of a commodity, the logistics of movement from place of production to location of consumption, and measurements of the impact of production and transport practices on the environment.